Over the years, Booth Library’s Ballenger Teacher Center (BTC) and our students in the College of Education have benefited greatly from the generosity of alumna, Dr. Annette Christy. Dr. Christy, Class of 1964, graduated with a major in Latin and Spanish from E.I.U. She began her teaching career of 43 years at the secondary level. Then, she earned a Masters in Library Science from Chicago State U. She then earned a Doctorate in Educational Technology from Nova Southeastern University. She became a mentor for groups of on-site and online doctoral studies for Nova while still remaining a middle school media specialist in the Upstate of South Carolina. Her fond memories of studying at the Booth Library inspired her to start contributing to the Ballenger Teachers Center in those areas of need that are suggested by the staff. It is her hope that these materials will be used to promote a joy of learning and enrichment.
This year, Dr. Christy made another donation to the Ballenger Teachers Center for the purchase of materials for our teacher candidates to use in the classroom. I identified several areas of the collection to update, including natural disasters, states of matter, physics, habitats, geographic features, and history. A total of 55 books were purchased for the BTC collection. Thank you, Dr. Christy, for your donation and for supporting EIU’s teacher candidates as they pursue their studies.
More of Dr. Christy’s donation
2019 Gift from Dr. Annette Christy for the BTC
Posted on March 4th, 2020
The Ballenger Teachers Center would like to thank EIU Alumna, Dr. Annette Christy, for her generous donation of History and Civics Curriculum Materials. Our secondary education students will benefit from updated American History and Civics textbooks as they prepare for practicum and student teaching.
Dr. Annette Christy, Class of 1964, graduated with a major in Latin and Spanish from E.I.U. She began her teaching career of 43 years at the secondary level. Then, she earned a Masters in Library Science from Chicago State U. She then earned a Doctorate in Educational Technology from Nova Southeastern University. She became a mentor for groups of on-site and online doctoral studies for Nova while still remaining a middle school media specialist in the Upstate of South Carolina. Her fond memories of studying at the Booth Library inspired her to start contributing to the Ballenger Teachers Center in those areas of need that are suggested by the staff. It is her hope that these materials will be used to promote a joy of learning and enrichment.
We are excited to announce our new display, Folk Tales and Fairy Tales from Around the World, compiled by library staff member, Deborah Fennema. Featuring an explanation of the subtle differences between folk and fairy tales, the display highlights retellings from around the world. We hope you’ll stop by, grab a book and a free bookmark!
Along with no-shave November, many folks on social media also spend of the month of November participating in activities such as 30 Days of Thanks with an intentional focus on gratitude. More and more, teachers find themselves teaching principles of gratitude, giving thanks, mindfulness, and manners in the classroom as a part of the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum.
Take a look at some of the great books now on display that focus on gratitude, giving thanks, and manners.
Donation from Dr. Annette Christy: Social Emotional Learning Children’s Books and Curriculum
Posted on May 28th, 2019
The Ballenger Teachers Center is excited to announce a set of brand new books and curriculum donated by Dr. Annette Christy (EIU Alumna, Class of 1964). Dr. Christy has given generously to the Ballenger Teachers Center over the years. She graduated with a major in Latin and Spanish from Eastern Illinois University. She began her teaching career of 43 years at the secondary level. Then, she earned a Masters in Library Science from Chicago State University. She then earned a Doctorate in Educational Technology from Nova Southeastern University. She became a mentor for groups of on-site and online doctoral studies for Nova while still remaining a middle school media specialist in the Upstate of South Carolina. Her fond memories of studying at Booth Library inspired her to start contributing to the Ballenger Teachers Center in those areas of need that are suggested by the staff. It is her hope that these materials will be used to promote a joy of learning and enrichment. Through Dr. Christy’s generous donations, the coordinator of the Ballenger Teachers Center is able to identify areas of need in the collection and update them all at once.
You may remember that Dr. Christy donation was used to update our juvenile collection’s books about space and the solar system last year.
This year we were able to add the Second Step Social-Emotional Learning Curriculum for grades K through 5. In addition to this wonderful curriculum, Dr. Christy’s donation allowed us to purchase a large variety of picture books about various social-emotional concepts, including persistence, kindness, responsibility, and fairness.
Increasing Knowledge of Diverse Individuals with Disabilities through Literature and Related Materials
Posted on August 23rd, 2018
This summer, Dr. Christina Edmonds-Behrend, Professor of Special Education, and Mrs. Michele McDaniel, Coordinator of the Ballenger Teachers Center at Booth Library, received a $1,500 grant from the Illinois State Foundation for Educational Studies, Inc., Delta Kappa Gamma for “Increasing Knowledge of Diverse Individuals with Disabilities through Literature and Related Materials.”
With these funds, we are purchasing children’s picture books, chapter books, and teaching materials that address a wide variety of disability experiences for the Ballenger Teachers Center. These items have been carefully selected to support pre-service teacher candidates in EIU’s College of Education. We are excited to announce that these items will be on special display in the Ballenger Teachers Center for the duration of the Fall 2018 semester.
Please preview the titles we have received so far below. More will arrive in the coming weeks. Please come to the BTC to check out some of our beautiful new materials today.
Also, stay tuned for more information about our coordinating Redden Grant for bringing a visiting author to campus!
Dr. Christina Edmonds-Behrend and Mrs. Michele McDaniel with grant materials.
Although the BTC is usually much quieter in the summer, this May the BTC has been abuzz with activity.
My student workers have been busy re-organizing the BTC Stacks (a.k.a. Textbooks and Teaching Materials or Curriculum Collection) to be in call number order A-Z, left to right. We also had help from our fabulous circulation staff members to reorganize the Box Kits and Bag Kits in the same fashion. Previously, the stacks ran Z-A. For those of you who knew exactly where your favorite item was on the shelf, the new organization will take a little bit of time to get used to. For those of you to whom the BTC Stacks were a mystery, we hope this makes finding things a bit easier! Take a look at the pictures below to see the changes.
On Wednesday April 18, 2018 at 7pm, the Ballenger Teachers Center will host the Student Education Association RSO for an Earth Day themed presentation. Mrs. McDaniel will introduce students to Earth Day related resources for our pre-service teachers available at the BTC. Resources include a wide variety of kits, games, and science modules; resource books for environment related activities; and an assortment of children’s fiction and non-fiction books which can serve as the perfect springboard for a variety of activities. We hope to see many of our students for this fun-filled evening!
Here is just a glimpse of what is available to our students:
10 Things I Can Do to Help My World: Fun and Easy Eco-tips
The Rebecca Caudill Award is the flagship Illinois Young Readers’ Choice Award. It was first awarded in 1988. Twenty books representative of quality literature for children in grades 4 through 8 are chosen each year. Children have a year to read each book, and then vote for their favorite through their school or public library.
Monarch Award (grades K-3) was first awarded in 2005
Bluestem Award (grades 3-5) was first awarded in 2011
Lincoln Award (teens) was first awarded in 2014
Nominee lists are announced in March, and students vote in February and March of the following year.
2018 ALA Youth Media Awards
Posted on March 29th, 2018
Every year, the American Library Association forms committees to select the best books of the year in a variety of categories. The selected titles represent examples of excellence in children’s and young adult literature and audio books. In addition to the gold medal award winners, each award will typically give honor awards to a few additional titles.
The 2018 Medal Winners and Honors are now on Display at the BTC. To learn more about these awards and to see a map of where they are located in the BTC, please visit the Awards Books collection page at the BTC Website: http://library.eiu.edu/btc/collections/awards.php
